Western Australia was the only state in the country to record an increase in late business payment times for the September quarter, new data has revealed.
Small and medium-sized businesses are settling their invoices about 12 faster than large corporations on average, a report by Dun & Bradstreet has found.
Suppliers to Rio Tinto face more financial pain after the global mining giant said it would double its standard payment terms to 90 days – twice as long as the average Australian business takes to pay its bills.
Australian businesses are settling their invoices at a ‘record-setting pace' of 45.1 days on average, according to a quarterly report by Dun & Bradstreet.
A report by the Auditor General has found one in 10 government agency invoices were paid later than the required 30 day period, raising concerns of further pressure on small businesses.
New data from Dun & Bradstreet has revealed Western Australian companies are the quickest to settle their accounts, but it still takes an average of 51.5 days.
Employment expectations are back in positive territory, capital investment expectations have risen to the highest level in seven years, and profit expectations have risen again, according to the latest Dun & Bradstreet Business Expectations Survey.
Australia's job market has continued to strengthen despite talk of an interest rate rise, with 14 per cent of companies expecting to increase employee numbers in the December quarter, according to the latest Dun & Bradstreet's Business Expectations survey
More than half of Australian businesses anticipate declining sales and profits in the March quarter amid fears of a steep rise in unemployment leading executives to prepare for a tumultuous year ahead.
INTEREST rates may be at near 30-year lows, but already debt collection agencies are raking in slabs of new job orders.Dun & Bradstreet last week reported a 200 per cent growth in the number of accounts taken on by the group in 2001.
